--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Bauhaus fights imitation, inferior…" description: "\"The Bauhaus fights imitation, inferior craftsmanship and artistic dilettantism\" — Walter Gropius" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d6/walter-gropius-11267_art_the-bauhaus-fights-imitation-inferior-cr_1149593.jpg" --- # The Bauhaus fights imitation, inferior craftsmanship and… ![“The Bauhaus fights imitation, inferior craftsmanship and artistic dilettantism” quote by Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d6/walter-gropius-11267_art_the-bauhaus-fights-imitation-inferior-cr_1149593.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d6/walter-gropius-11267_art_the-bauhaus-fights-imitation-inferior-cr_1149593.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d6/walter-gropius-11267_art_the-bauhaus-fights-imitation-inferior-cr_1149593.jpg) > “The Bauhaus fights imitation, inferior craftsmanship and artistic dilettantism” [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Bauhaus opposes copying, poor craft, and superficial art. **In simple terms:** Reject imitation and low quality. Key Takeaway Prioritize authentic craftsmanship. Themes art design craftsmanship authenticity Mood critical inspirational Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - architecture education - product design - art criticism - craft workshops Key Concepts modernism design theory Questions to Reflect On - How to balance tradition and innovation? - What defines true craftsmanship? A Different Perspective May be idealistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic/) [Bauhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bauhaus/) [Craftsmanship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/craftsmanship/) ## Related quotes > [Theo van Doesburg wanted to teach in the Bauhaus in 1922. I refused, however, to appoint him since I considered him to be too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/theo-van-doesburg-wanted-to-teach-in-the-bauhaus-in-1922-i-refused/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [The ultimate, if distant, aim of the Bauhaus is the unified work of art - the great structure - in which there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/the-ultimate-if-distant-aim-of-the-bauhaus-is-the-unified-work-of-art/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [The Bauhaus strives to bring together all creative effort into one whole, to reunify all the disciplines of practical art - sculpture, painting, handicrafts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/the-bauhaus-strives-to-bring-together-all-creative-effort-into-one/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [The days of the painter at the Bauhaus appear to be truly over. They are estranged from the actual core of present activities, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/the-days-of-the-painter-at-the-bauhaus-appear-to-be-truly-over-they/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [With but a few exceptions, we don't have this personal study under masters any more. Craftsmanship has sunk very low. We no longer have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/with-but-a-few-exceptions-we-don-t-have-this-personal-study-under/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [Art itself cannot be taught, but craftsmanship can. Architects, painters, sculptors are all craftsmen in the original sense of the word. Thus it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/art-itself-cannot-be-taught-but-craftsmanship-can-architects-painters/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [Before World War II, Modernist architects sometimes had to resort to custom fabrication or outright fakery to achieve the machine imagery advocated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/before-world-war-ii-modernist-architects-sometimes-had-to-resort-to/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [Hilda Reiss was the head of the Everyday Art Gallery. Hilda Reiss came from Germany, had trained at the original Bauhaus in Germany, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/hilda-reiss-was-the-head-of-the-everyday-art-gallery-hilda-reiss-came/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [Few developments central to the history of art have been so misrepresented or misunderstood as the brief, brave, glorious, doomed life of the Bauhaus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/few-developments-central-to-the-history-of-art-have-been-so/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [I don't particularly follow the Bauhaus school of design, where you make everything into a black box - simplify it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dyson/i-don-t-particularly-follow-the-bauhaus-school-of-design-where-you/) [James Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dyson/) > [Art Nouveau got its inspiration from nature. The Bauhaus got its inspiration from engineering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/art-nouveau-got-its-inspiration-from-nature-the-bauhaus-got-its/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [From the outset, MoMA followed the Bauhaus's strict prohibition against design that even hinted at the decorative, a prejudice that skewed the pioneering museum's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/from-the-outset-moma-followed-the-bauhaus-s-strict-prohibition/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [We hated Bauhaus. It was a bad time in architecture. They just didn’t have any talent. All they had were rules. Even for knives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-niemeyer/we-hated-bauhaus-it-was-a-bad-time-in-architecture-they-just-didn-t/) [Oscar Niemeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-niemeyer/) > [“Like the time I threw out Pete Murphy of Bauhaus for saying those six immortal words to Slim when he'd forgotten his backstage pass:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hook/like-the-time-i-threw-out-pete-murphy-of-bauhaus-for-saying-those-six/) [Peter Hook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hook/) > [“Toward the end of our sessions, Daniel and Peter spotted an undertaker polishing an old hearse while visiting the nearby village of Monmouth. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-j-haskins/toward-the-end-of-our-sessions-daniel-and-peter-spotted-an-undertaker/) David J. Haskins ## More by Walter Gropius > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [I feel very German - and who can make himself a judge over what is German and what is not - in my ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/i-feel-very-german-and-who-can-make-himself-a-judge-over-what-is/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [Wherever I go I make others feel good, and by doing this, I create life. I am a sting, and a dangerous instrument!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/wherever-i-go-i-make-others-feel-good-and-by-doing-this-i-create-life/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [The general public, formerly profoundly indifferent to everything to do with building, has been shaken out of its torpor; personal interest in architecture as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/the-general-public-formerly-profoundly-indifferent-to-everything-to/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [Theo van Doesburg wanted to teach in the Bauhaus in 1922. I refused, however, to appoint him since I considered him to be too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/theo-van-doesburg-wanted-to-teach-in-the-bauhaus-in-1922-i-refused/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [A modern building should derive its architectural significance solely from the vigour and consequence of its own organic proportions. It must be true to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/a-modern-building-should-derive-its-architectural-significance-solely/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [Architects, painters, and sculptors must recognize anew and learn to grasp the composite character of a building both as an entity and in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/architects-painters-and-sculptors-must-recognize-anew-and-learn-to/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [The ultimate, if distant, aim of the Bauhaus is the unified work of art - the great structure - in which there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/the-ultimate-if-distant-aim-of-the-bauhaus-is-the-unified-work-of-art/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [The Bauhaus strives to bring together all creative effort into one whole, to reunify all the disciplines of practical art - sculpture, painting, handicrafts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/the-bauhaus-strives-to-bring-together-all-creative-effort-into-one/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [As there is in Germany - as well as in Russia and Italy - no art which is not approved of by the government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/as-there-is-in-germany-as-well-as-in-russia-and-italy-no-art-which-is/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [Let us together create the new building of the future, which will be everything in one form: architecture and sculpture and painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/let-us-together-create-the-new-building-of-the-future-which-will-be/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [Each person feels that he is an 'expert' in one or two fields and just the 'public' in all the others. 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Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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